Charing the Breach
by Nathaniel Coolidge
Summary: Due to Mass Effect 3's lackluster ending, I decided to write an ending myself that I believe does the ME Franchise justice in my mind. This story picks up from the moment Shepard is knocked unconscious by Harbinger's blast, and tells a new tale


Mass Effect 3 Alternate Ending

By: Nathaniel Coolidge

Author Note: Like many of ME3 fans Mass Effect 3 became a great source of entertainment to me. In the age of multiplayer dominant shooters with campaigns becoming little more than tutorials for game mechanics, Mass Effect largely stood against the trend. I will admit I enjoy multiplayer shooters to an extent, but my greatest desire is to play a game that has _story_. The Mass Effect franchise was one of my all time favorites, and by far the games I would become most "addicted to" throughout all my gaming history. At the end of the journey, however, ME3 finally dropped the ball. The fan outlash was devastating, the ending of ME heartbreaking not because of its artistic power, but because of how much it failed to do the franchise justice. I don't know how but BW dropped the ball in my book. When this became apparent to me I did nothing for awhile, hoping that we would get the ending ME3 deserved. So I decided to write my own ending, an ending which will provide some closure for me and maybe, hopefully, for you all as well. Since this is a story for myself, however, it unfortunately has to start with assumptions from my game. Hell maybe I'll write different versions if enough people enjoy it enough.

TL;DR The game endings were very disappointing so I'm "putting my money where my mouth is" and writing one myself. This is only a first draft so I apologize for any major problems

Major Assumptions:

Shep is male

Virmire Survivor: Kaiden Alenko

LI: Miranda (none ME1)

All squadmates survive Suicide mission and ME3 events (save Mordin+Legion)

EMS: 6500/max (very high alright :P)

Saved Destiny Ascension in ME1

Geth/Quarian Peace Achieved

Genophage Cured

Rachni Saved ME1+ME3

Collector Base Destroyed

Mainly a paragon character

Background: This fanfic will assume all events up to hitting Harbinger's beam are true and have happened. This story will start from the point when Shep is knocked out

Chapter One: Rally the Lost

"Shepard!" Garrus yelled, sliding down to one knee, even under his helmet he could feel the heat of Harbinger's beam as he slid across the dust covered ground.

Garrus watched as the Commander's armor melted off his chest, the pieces sizzling away like evaporating water. Garrus's eyes narrowed, pointing his gun at Harbinger firing the Mattock in a fury of anger, rage, and frustration. He could hear his father's voice echoing in his head.

_Sometimes even Turians will lose their cool in battle, they will make rash decisions based in their passion than based on their orders. Orders take precedent of passions Garrus, your passion for justice should never come before your orders._

He knew the words were true, but as he saw Shepard hit the ground in a puff of grey dust, what did orders matter if he was about to die once Harbinger was done with Shepard. There was nowhere to run, the Conduit to the Citadel was over 100 yards away according to his targeting visor and as he looked to his left to an overturned Mako where Liara sat, blood staining her left shoulder a dead cannibal sitting in front of her as she lifted his Cannix pistol, looking through the scope as she fired round after round.

Garrus closed his eyes as his thermal clip ejected, his ears hearing Liara's pistol do the same, cursing under his breath that he didn't have the old guns limited only by overheating. Garrus and Liara looked at each other, an understanding between them forged by a hundred battles.

As he looked up to the smoke filled sky, however, he could hear a familiar voice over the COM channel…Joker's.

He saw a lance of blue light fire through the sky and slam into Harbinger's barriers. A perfect hit on the Reaper.

"You and me Harbinger! Come and get me!" Joker's voice crackled over the COM, the Normandy screaming overhead as Harbinger's beam no longer targeted Shepard but attempted to hit the Normandy.

"Targeting solution uploaded," EDI's voice stated over the COM, as calm and predictable as the ocean.

"All available ships fire," Hackett's voice, cold as ice, ordered.

Garrus closed his eyes as impact after impact rocked Harbinger, the Reaper's barriers struggling against the impact, it quickly launching from the ground to leave. It was either chasing the Normandy or simply needed more power to divert to its barriers.

As Garrus slowly began crawling to Shepard's unconscious body Liara's pistol cracked overhead, as a pair of husks ran into her singularity.

"Drop pods incoming!" Liara called out. "Reaper forces are massing around the Conduit."

"Get him to the Mako for cover!" Garrus ordered.

"Direct hits sir," Anderson's voice crackled over the radio channel. "Harbinger is chasing after the Normandy I think. It's barriers are weak as long as it's planetside."

Hackett looked over the holographic interface which mapped his ships. Everything was a mess, the Reapers had taken a few losses, but every minute it took to get to the conduit he would lose another ship. He tightened his jaw, he could show no fear.

"What is the status of Hammer?" Hakot asked.

"The charge failed, Harbinger decimated us. Shepard was hit, badly wounded," Anderson's voice replied.

"What of his team?" Hackett questioned, his fingers tightening into a fist.

"Garrus Vakarian and Liara T'soni are alive, they have pulled him to safety but Reaper forces are closing around the conduit. We need to regroup before we charge again," Anderson stated.

"Make it fast Admiral, every minute we have to wait hundreds are dying in orbit," Hackett's voice ordered, the slightest hint of frustration coming through.

"Shepard brought an army here," Anderson's voice stated. "We'll get it done."

_I hope so Anderson…I hope so_.

"Let me know when you do," Hackett replied closing the COM. He turned to his navigation officer. "Regroup, I want all forces to shield our Dreadnoughts and keep them safe, keep the targeting solution from the Normandy and prepare keep all Dreadnoughts prepare for orbital bombardment."

"Yes sir," The man nodded his hands tremoring as he went to work.

"And get Vakarian some God damned air support," Hackett stated.

"Fighters being diverted sir," the man replied again.

Hackett's jaw tightened, his fist tightened until his knuckles were white; it was time to call the Crucible and prepare it to get into position.

"All Alliance forces, Turian, Salarian, Krogan, Geth, everyone who Shepard brought us together," Anderson called over the emergency channel. "Shepard brought us to this point; it is time to finish what he started. We need all forces to merge on the conduit, it we don't break the Reaper forces there this war is over. We need the Crucible, we need the Catalyst, we need the conduit. Shepard gave us the first chance in hundreds of millions of years to defeat the Reapers, make him proud. Garrus Vakarian is holding them back for now, but we need all forces merging against the conduit and charging together."

Anderson turned to Major Kotes. "Status of human forces?"

Kotes just shook his head. "Hammer is gone sir. Our forces are scattered we only have a handful left that weren't in the immediate charge for the conduit…Reapers are everywhere. We can't do this without reinforcements."

"Shepard gave us allies," Anderson stated as he walked to the ridge just overlooking the Conduit, tracers flying between a downed Mako and the Conduit. "Get a team down to stabilize Shepard and reestablish radio contact with Vakarian."

"Let me go sir," Alenko's voice stated as he walked up behind Anderson, his armor glowing with a bluish hue of biotic energy. "My team is ready."

Anderson looked at Alenko and his squad of biotic soldiers behind them, Alenko's brown eyes stared right back. "Shepard saved me on Virmire; it's time I returned the favor."

"Understood Major," Anderson nodded. "Good luck. Move fast."

Alenko nodded turning to his team. "Connor you project the barrier to provide cover as we move in the open. Kerry you bring the field kit. Neal you have radio supplies. Jeremy you bring as many ammo packs as possible."

The team had the gear assembled in seconds, Alenko sliding down the hill's edge as the squad made their way towards Garrus, a constant stream of tracers flying between the barrier bubble and conduit. They were methodical, but as the Reaper drop pods continued to fall Anderson didn't think they would be enough to make it to the conduit even with Vakarian and T'Soni's help.

Kotes nodded ordering their own radio team down. "And what about us?"

"It's time we put that sniper rifle back to good use Major," Anderson replied.

As Anderson pulled out his Widow Kote's face turned from disbelief to steel, a curt nod followed as he got onto his stomach. As Anderson fired the first round, a husk's head blew off as it crossed the "No Man Land" between the Mako and Conduit. Reaper drop pods were crashing into the ground, every second, the Cannibals and Marauders quickly setting up barrier engines and walls of their fallen to provide more cover.

Anderson was not much on prayer, but as he loaded another heat sink into the rifle he looked at Shepard's limp body for a moment through the scope. He sent up a prayer to any listening deity as he fired another round into a Ravager.

"All Companies are to form up with Aralakh," Wrex repeated again, his Claymore shotgun rising as he fired from the hip, the charging husk being shredded to ribbons of cybernetic flesh. "I don't care if you die getting here, if you stay there and survive I will tear your heart out and feed it to wild Varrens you pyjak."

As silence filled the COM for a moment Wrex waited, finally hearing the "Affirmative" from the other Krogan commanders.

As Wrex walked to the walked back towards Aralakh's front line he stood next to Grunt, aiming his shotgun and shredding a Cannibal to death as it popped from behind cover.

"Sentries, a company of Reaper forces still stand between Aralakh and the Conduit," Grunt stated.

"Too bad," Wrex stated. "Shepard got the fun of killing a Reaper on Tuchanka. I was hoping for a chance to do the same on Earth."

"Heh…Heh…Heh,," Grunt's blue eyes looked at Wrex, his eagerness reminding him of his youth.

"Wrex?" A familiar voice crackled through the COM.

Wrex's finger pressed against the COM piece. "What is it Garrus?"

Wrex could hear the sound of gunfire dominating the background with calls of flanking enemy forces.

"Shepard is stabilized for now, but if we don't have the heat taken off us we're dead," Garrus stated. "We need the Krogan to smash their left flank before we can charge the Conduit."

"We'll do more than just smash the flank Garrus," Wrex replied coolly turning his head to see blood covered Krogan making sprinting through the husk covered street towards Aralakh Company. "Count on it."

"I always do," Garrus replied before the com channel cut.

As Wrex turned he could see the Krogan forces that had made it, many at less than half strength at the initial attack. As the minutes passed Aralakh was supplemented by the new companies. Wreav, Eve, Solus, all new companies given to honor Krogan 'Shepards'.

Garrus saw the glow of his barriers flare for a moment as he popped his head out from cover, pulling the trigger of his Black Widow and watching see the explosion of cybernetic guts explode across the dirt as he hid behind the Mako once more.

He looked at Tali who was busy at work with the Mako's turret, apparently it the tank was still intact enough to jury-rig the turret to remote control. Tali's knack for turning useless salvage back into something functioning could save them by the skin of their teeth, because as Garrus had looked out from behind cover for a moment, he had seen a group of five Brutes crossing no man's land.

"How long Tali?" Garrus demanded as he pulled his Mattock out and began to blind fire it as his shields recharged.

"Just give me a minute," Tali responded as sparks flew out of the Mako's panels.

"One brute down," Kaiden stated as the crack of a sniper rifle whooshed past.

"You and your squad provide covering fire Kaiden," Garrus ordered. "Liara and I will focus our fire on the second brute."

"Understood," Kaiden nodded as he pulled out the Revenant, the extended barrel still cooling from the last clip he had spent getting here.

"Shepard's vitals stabilizing, brain activity still off the charts," the medic updated. "I don't know what is going on in his head but it can't be good."

Garrus quickly switched back to his Black Widow placing a modded heat sink in to pierce the Brute's armor. Liara had already modded her own pistol's ammo.

"Mark," Garrus ordered, the small team leaning out from the Mako unleashing a hailstorm of fire onto the Reapers at the Conduit, Garrus firing his clip as fast as he could into the Brute, watching it fall as Liara's warp smashed into its skull. The last one was getting to close though, it was already leaning down preparing to charge the small group.

"Tali we need that turret!" Garrus stated, timing seeming to slow as he ducked behind the Mako as rounds scorched the metal, pulling out another heat sink to pop in. As he heard no response he called out again. "TALI!"

As Tali slammed her fist against the wiring Garrus knew they were in trouble. As he poked his head out again, however, his shields at quarter strength, he heard the scream of a Geth dropship overhead, followed. The brutes stopped for a moment looking up to see what the Geth had dropped.

Garrus could hardly believe it, but as Geth primes were dropping from the sky like rain, along with a trio of Hammerheads.

The group of Brutes were smashed into the dirt crushed by the weight of the Geth, the Hammerhead's providing covering fire against the every growing Reaper forces at the Conduit.

The Geth Primes slowly withdrew to the Mako, the Hammerheads wheeling around the turrets laying a continuous fire down on the Reaper forces.

As the door opened to the Hammerhead, however, it was a Quarian that jumped out, his environmental suit obviously modded for combat with red armor plating.

"Garrus Vakarian?" his voice called out as he crouched behind the Mako for cover. "Kal'Reeger, Quarian Marines."

"Your alive Kal?" Tali's voice dripped with relief.

"The Quarians aren't the only ones with a Marine force ma'am," Kal'Reeger replied. "Shepard saved my life on Haestrom and helped reclaim my people's homeworld, I felt that I owed him the same ma'am. Just like you."

"How many men do you have soldier?" Garrus questioned.

"Not many sir, Admiral Hackett primarily put the Quarians on tank deployments, our suits won't last long once shields go out but we do have a knack for malfunctioning equipment like damaged tanks. The Geth Primes volunteered to supplement our force, we're not many but the Hammerheads give us mobility and Geth Primes are tough as Thresher Maws," Kal'Reeger stated.

Garrus nodded, a faint glimmer of hope was slowly solidifying. "Get the Hammerheads and Geth on our right flank, meet up with any friendly forces we have left there, we need the Reapers to be spread thin around the Conduit before we charge, otherwise we'll be dead before we make it halfway there."

Kal'Reeger nodded, the Geth Prime's lights winking white for a moment as the Hammerheads regrouped, Geth climbing atop firing at the Reapers and deploying sentry turrets to help keep the perimeter of the Mako safe.

"We will keep Creator Kal'Reeger safe Vakarian-Commander," the last Geth Prime stated as it climbed aboard the Hammerhead's fin.

Jack walked past the corpses of dead husks, marauders, cannibals, the ribbons of flesh all just mashed together beneath her feet, the puddles of liquid reminding her of the constant rain puddles on Pragia.

"Garrus Vakarian is holding them back for now, but we need all forces merging against the conduit and charging together," Jack played the recording for the third time as she slowly walked forward, her team of biotics behind her.

Shepard's orders be damned, she was not going to sit behind the front lines enemy more. She passed by a squad of dead marines, quickly checking if they had fresh heat sinks, as her squad continued to keep her brisk pace, their vitals were normal but they were beginning to tire. If they had been sprinting to the Conduit as she wanted they could very end up dead. She knew Shepard would not let her take that chance, the foolish Boy Scout he was.

"Incoming!" Rodriquez yelled.

Jack looked up to see the Harvester screaming overhead, smashing down on the rubble in front of her.

"Cover!" Jack called out. Sprinting towards the wreckage of an Alliance dropship where as she pulled out a shotgun.

"Shield and Warp!" She called out, a barrage of energy smashing into the Harvester's armor ripping it apart as the students took pot shots at it, few of them scoring direct hits.

"Keep the barriers up" Jack called out popping to the Harvester's side as 3 Ravagers popped into view, their sights targeting Rodriquez.

Jack didn't think, time itself seemed to slow to her as she sprinted towards Rodriquez as she popped out of cover, her face turning to horror as she saw the guns of the Ravagers slowly begin to glow. Jack was not going to make it. Rodriquez couldn't handle that much direct punishment, the first volley came and the barrier held. Then the second volley hit, the barriers faded, Jack cursed herself for being too far ahead; her heart beat once. Twice.

As the third volley came in, however, a new barrier had popped up, a figure armored in Commando armor and helmet stepped in the way projecting the shield in front of Rodriquez, the Ravager's attacks barely affecting her barrier's strength.

Next to her 5 more Asari popped into view each having a different color of jewel upon their forehead, each projecting a barrier for cover as a group of Salarian, Asari, Turians, appear, each heavily armed and armored. Even Jack had to respect the skill as a a wave of warps smashed into the Harvester tearing it apart as their modded rifles and ammo tore through the Ravagers like paper, the swarmers torn to pieces by a few expertly placed Singularities. Even though Rodriquez and the other students had full helmets over their faces Jack could tell they were in awe.

"Subject Zero I take it?" a Salarian stepped forward.

Jack looked at the Salarian who offered a handshake making no move to accept it.

"Jack," a very familiar, and very unwanted voice.

"You!" Jack pointed her finger as the Cerberus Bitch took off her helmet, the Commando who had saved Rodriquez wasn't an Asari after all.

"Hello Jack," Miranda replied calmly.

The Salarian slowly took away his offered handshake. "Jordan Baum, Special Office of Tactics and Reconnaissance."

"Spectres…" Rodriquez's voice trailed off as the blood covered agents slowly set up a perimeter.

"Not just Spectres," another familiar voice replied, an orange armored Asari walked forward. "The Asari Justicars joined this fight as well. I have assembled as many as I could for this attack."

Samara stood next to Baum and Miranda calm as ever, her blue eyes unflinching as she looked to Jack, a sense of pity still twinged in her eyes at the sight of Jack's scars and tattoos.

"We need to get moving, the Reapers will catch up with us again if we slow down," one of the Turians stated as he scanned the horizon down his heavily modified Avenger.

"The children will slow us down," Miranda stated calmly.

"Are you suggesting we leave them behind?" Baum asked.

Jack's anger flared for a moment. What was the Cerberus bitch up to.

"No, they have proven quite capable in combat from all reports," Miranda stated. "I'm suggesting we merge them into our forces, they will have to move faster but with our help they won't need to worry about encountering anymore energy until we get to the Conduit. We'll need every barrier we can get to keep casualties minimal on the final charge. These students will make a difference."

Jack stepped back, slightly surprised.

"Get your gear kids, we're moving double time," Jack ordered, Miranda walking up to her.

She offered her hand. "You may not like Cerberus, but neither do I. Shepard got us to this point. Let's finish what he started."

For a moment Jack's eyes narrowed, but as she remembered all the hell she had been through on the Collector base she took Miranda's hand. Her mind screaming at her but she did it all the same.

"We move forward," Samara stated shouldering her assault rifle.

"Grunt!" Wrex's voice roared. "Pull back, move together!"

Grunt shouldered down another marauder, the impact of his shotgun's butt shattered the jaw, quickly followed by a blast from a fellow Krogan. Aralakh was plowing through the Reaper forces, blood was everywhere, dead bodies piled the ground, the stench of death coated grunt like a sweet perfume.

He had never been happier. Even as he heard a banshee screeching all Grunt could do was laugh. Grunt ploughed forward faster and faster, his barriers were low but it was nothing he hadn't survived before. His mind was lost in the bloodshed, Wrex's orders drifting away from his mind.

As he smashed his fist through another Marauder's skull a smile crossed his face, he may be allied with the Turians now, but deep down his tank memory enjoyed the killing of Reaperfied Turians still, it was satisfying like scratching an itch on the skin.

As he heard a Banshee's scream however, he saw the Reaper Asari barreling towards him faster than he had anticipated, the Reapers following in behind her a blast of biotic energy knocked Grunt back, the Banshee phasing forward through the air.

Aralakh was too far behind Grunt had charged to far forward, lost in his blood lust.

Grunt fired at the Banshee as it reached for him, the Barrier collapsing as its fingers wrapped around his waist, the beast hissed at him, the lights that glowed against its body turning Red as it lifted Grunt up like a rag doll.

"Heh…Heh…Heh," Grunt smiled as it stared at his eyes, it screeched but Grunt's eyes just smiled more. "I learned this trick from Shepard."

Grunt's shotgun leveled into the Banshee's gut, the Claymore tore through the armor like wet clay, the shredder attachment doing its job well. As Grunt fell to the ground he felt a round tear through his shoulder as the Banshee's fellow Reaper forces closed in. Grunt fell to one knee and shot a charging husk, slamming his gun through the hole it left, the rounds from Cannibals and Marauders tearing through the Husk as Grunt used it as a meat shield. He fired twice more before he felt a round crack through the back of his armor, knocking him forward, his gun skittering across the ground.

Grunt slowly began to crawl towards the gun, blood dripping from his left shoulder, the taste of it filling his mouth. He would go down fighting the Reapers alone…a good death.

Grunt got to his shotgun, slowly standing to see more Reapers taking cover behind concrete ruins, he slowly rose to one knee as another Marauder shot him through the gut.

_I'm fine, Krogan were built to take punishment like this_. Grunt told himself, stepping forward waiting for the rounds to tear through him….

Instead he heard the sound of sniper rifles cracking in the distance, and saw small black balls attaching to Cannibals like sticky grenades before exploding into a confetti of meat.

He heard a new kind of screech as the Reaper forces turned their attention away from the blood stained Grunt, only to have tentacles tear through their chests.

By now Wrex was charging forward with Aralakh and the other newly named Krogan companies, a Salarian standing by his side as he holstered his pistol.

"I'll be damned, you're still alive," Wrex stated calmly as the Krogan moved forward through the line of dead Reapers.

"Krogan are tough to kill, and I. Am. Krogan," Grunt stated, a hint of excitement still in his voice.

"Too bad it was Salarians and Rachni that saved you," Wrex stated calmly. "That'll make a hell of a story for you."

Grunt looked at the Salarian, a mix of anger, shame, and thankfulness filled him.

"And who is this Salarian savior?" Grunt questioned

"Major Kirrahe," the Salarian stated. "STG."

Wrex snorted. "Let's keep moving. Garrus is still pinned, I'll be damned if the Krogan aren't the first to reach that Conduit."

James pressed his foot down on the accelerator smashing through the concrete wall in front of him. The Grizzly handled like a bull but as he heard the gun fire he could not help but feel a small amount of satisfaction.

"Harvester down," Zaeed stated. "Reloading."

James ploughed through the ruin filled street as fast as he could, a column of Makos following behind him. It was a pitiful armor column but James had come to learn you take what you can get when it comes to fighting Reapers.

"Bull Rush, come in Bull Rush," a com voice came over the com channel.

"This is Bull Rush," James replied calmly as he heard Zaeed fire off another shell.

"This is Eclipse team two, we have reached the perimeter of the Conduit, we have friendly forces inbound, Hammerheads with….is that Geth?" the voice trailed off as he heard chatter in the background. "Hammerheads with Geth wheeling towards on our left flank."

James could only hope it was the reinforcements he was needed. Without any help the mercenaries and armor column wouldn't make it far, and Reaper forces were trailing them.

"Admiral Anderson," James switched coms. "This is Bull Rush. The Blue Suns, Blood Pack, and Eclipse reinforcements will be at the right flank in five minutes."

"Acknowledged Bull Rush," Anderson replied. "Be advised Geth and Quarian reinforcements are headed to your position, a detachment of Reapers were drawn off from the center column by them. Expect heavy resistance when the order to charge comes Lieutenant."

"We'll be ready sir. Bull Rush out," James replied as he switched to another com channel over the sound of the .50 Cal hammering in the background. "Eclipse Mech team, I need those mechs ready for deployment off the cargo haulers as soon as we reach the perimeter, every damn one."

"Understood sir," a voice replied.

"Blood Pack, Blue Suns be ready to offload the moment we stop haulin ass," James called over two more com channels.

He got two more affirmatives as he pressed the beast of a tank faster. He saw the shields were fading from the impacts of various Reapers, but it was nothing a Grizzly couldn't handle.

James turned the com channel one more time. "Garrus this is Vega, mercenary forces will merge with Quarian and Geth on the right flank. Five minutes and we'll be in position."

James waited for the response, the moments passing by like hours. Was Garrus already dead?

"Affirmative Vega," Garrus called out, the sound of a .50 Cal firing filled the background. "Make it fast."

"Will do," Vega replied.

"You survive this Vega and I might just consider you a real soldier," Garrus chuckled, the sounds of yells filled his background.

James let a smile cross his face slightly shaking his head in disbelief ever so slightly.

"Just wait till I tell all the Mercs that they're helping me save Archangel's ass after what they all went through on Omega," James replied.

"Wrex status report," Garrus called over the com channel, Tali's jury-rigged Mako leaving a ringing in his ears as it continued to fire.

"We're outside the perimeter, STG and Rachni are with us, STG are popping off forces as they try to reinforce the main column, they're just realizing we have them flanked," Wrex's voice crackled over the com. "The Krogan Companies are ready to charge on your command Garrus. Don't keep me waiting."

"2 o'clock," Kaiden's voice called out, quickly followed by a burst of assault rifle fire.

"We can't stay here much longer Garrus," Liara called out as she threw another warp bubble into the mass of Reaper forces. They were felling them by the dozens but each one that fell was replaced by 3 more. They were pouring out of the conduit like rain…how many on the Citadel had been processed by now?

"Anderson," Garrus called on his com. "Anderson."

"This is Anderson Vakarian," the Admiral replied.

"My team is running out of clips and we don't have nearly enough people to make it to the Conduit, we need support now," Garrus stated.

"We're running low ourselves, we all knew this was a sui-," Anderson's voice cut out.

"Anderson?" Garrus called over his com as he popped from behind cover popping another round from his Black Widow. "Anderson?"

"Garrus look behind you," a familiar voice crackled over the com channel.

As Garrus looked back to the edge of the hill he watched as a group of Asari slid down, projecting their barriers forward as at least 40 soldiers followed, a mix of Spectres, more asari, and even humans.

The group sprinted across the field towards a Mako that across from Garrus and his team. He could recognize Samara, Jack, and Miranda.

"What's Shepard's status?" Miranda called over the hail of gunfire that pinged against the Makos.

"Critical but stable for now," Liara replied. "Unconscious for now, has massive amounts of Rapid Eye Movement, brain activity off the charts."

Miranda sprinted across the gap between the two Makos her barrier holding for a moment as gunfire concentrated on her, her barrier cracking as her shields picked up the slack, just breaking as she slid to Shepard's side, her omni tool glowing as she checked the vitals.

"His cybernetics are getting fried," Miranda stated. "Give me the med kit."

Garrus looked back for a moment, Miranda's face had turned to steel as she opened the kit, his hands a blur over Shepard's body as she want about treating him. It made sense to Garrus, who better to patch Shepard up than the person who rebuilt him from the dead?

"Garrus, this is Vega," James's voice called over the com one last time. "Mercenaries, Quarian, and Geth are ready for deployment. "On your order."

"Understood Vega," Garrus replied.

Garrus looked at Tali as the Mako's turret stopped firing.

"It's dead, heat sink overloaded," Tali explained.

"Garrus Vakarian," A salarian called out across the field. "We're ready to charge on your order."

Garrus took a deep breath, everyone's eyes were on him.

"Anderson, we're ready to charge, do we have orbital support?" Garrus called over the com channel.

"Affirmative, linking you to Admiral Hackett," Anderson's voice reaffirmed.

Garrus waited a moment, white noise washing through his radio. "Gar- Vakarian, this is Admiral Hackett. Give me good news soldier."

"All ground forces are prepared to charge sir, but we need orbital support this time. If any Reapers come to stop us we'll be wiped out and there won't be a second chance," Garrus stated calmly.

"All Dreadnoughts are ready to fire, EDI's battle chassis has been modified with a targeting painter," Hackett's voice stated. "You have to do it soon though, the screen force for the dreadnoughts is being torn to pieces by the Reapers."

"Understood sir," Garrus replied, turning his com channel to all his allies frequencies.

"All Conduit forces this is Garrus Vakarian," he said calmly as his fingers tightened around his Mattock rifle. "I'm not one for speeches, but all I have to say is this. Shepard brought us here despite all the odds against him, Krogan, Turian, Salarian, Quarian, Geth, Rachni, we're going to finish what he started three years ago when Sovereign was torn to pieces in the Citadel. We're going to kill these Reapers once and for all…..

"Charge." Garrus ordered.

In that moment the Asari Justicars threw Barriers out around the Mako, Kaiden's own biotic squad doing the same as the groups left the cover of the Makos. Garrus fired his Mattock as fast as he could, the rounds tearing through the crowd of Reapers around the conduit, his eyes watching as once again Harbinger came plummeting from the atmosphere.

Alliance fighters screeched overhead strafing the ground, shooting Harvesters out of the sky as they circled the conduit.

Wrex charged forward, on his rank flank Rachni, on his left Krogan, to his back he could hear the cracking of Salarian STG snipers as the heads of Reaper forces popped like an overripe melon. The Krogan waited behind the cement columns as they heard Garrus's order to charge. All of them looked to Wrex for the confirmation.

"For Tuchanka, the Krogan, and Mordin Urdnot!" Wrex roared turning his back from the cement ruins and charging forward to the Conduit. "Attack!"

James heard the order, Zaeed firing another round.

"Let's move Bull Rush, all forces attack!" James ordered.

James jumped out of the tank as the copilot took over, hopping onto the ground as he pulled out his Revenant, firing a burst at the Conduit as a hail of metal slugs flew from the tanks into the Reaper forces. Mechs were the first moving in, the Geth following behind them cautiously, completely unafraid of death. Behind them the armor columns followed, the tanks providing a constant barrage as the Hammer Heads skittered along the flanks providing support.

As James looked up, however, he could see the moon light extinguished by Harbinger, that big damn Reaper again.

"Keep moving forward!" James ordered. "Not one step back!"

If they retreated now there would be no third opportunity. James kept moving forward. He would not let his squad get massacred again.

"Hold your damn barrier Rodriquez!" Jack's voice called out as she fired her rifle, a biotic attack launching from her palm as it slammed into Liara's singularity in an explosion.

Kaiden carried the Commander on his shoulder, firing the Revenant from his hip, his face cold. He was not just angry, Kaiden was enraged. Garrus looked down the sight of his scope, hoping that Harbinger would be stopped this time as it slowly plummeted to the ground.

"Acquiring targeting solution," EDI's ever peaceful voice reassured over the COM.

"Let's hope the Destiny Ascension's gun is as good as the Asari's predicted," Miranda stated as she expended another clip of her Hurricane SMG.

Harbinger landed Garrus feeling its focus upon him and his small group.

Seconds turned into hours as Harbinger's main gun began to glow, the beam turning into an ever brighter red.

"Solution acquired…" EDI stated. "Uploaded."

Garrus watched as the beam hit the ground in front of the squad's barriers, hearing the crack of Harbinger's barriers as a volley of fire came down on top of the Reaper, the Reaper's tentacles hitting the ground as it strained to stay upright. The Normandy screeched past again, the main gun firing another round from the Thanix the cannon's targeting perfect, smashing right into the Harbinger's main gun as it tried to fire again.

"Again!" Garrus called.

"New solution uploaded," EDI stated.

Again the volley of orbital strike tore into the Reaper, Garrus could see the last round tearing past the Kinetic barriers.

"One last time," Garrus whispered under his breath as a pair of Brutes fell to the ground, the combined fire of his team easily dispatching them before they came to close.

Garrus saw another volley fire down from overhead, the broken Kinetic barriers were down, and as Harbinger fell to the ground its barrage went wild, his squad continued moving forward, a wash of courage over coming them.

"Destiny Ascension can get off one last round before breaking off," an Asari voice called over the com. "Uploaded targeting solution."

"Uploading," EDI's voice replied.

"Firing," the Asari responded, a light in the sky flying down into Harbinger, a massive explosion following tearing Reaper husks apart in a mass of Shrapnel, the heat washing past Garrus's face.

Harbinger was dead.

Time seemed to pass in a blur as the squad made it to the Conduit, Banshees, Cannibals, Marauders, Ravagers, Harvesters, bodies piled around the conduit like a wall of cybernetic flesh. The Conduit no longer supplied the ground forces.

"Admiral Hackett this is Garrus Vakarian, the Conduit…is secure," Garrus said, a wave of relief passing over him. "The Conduit is ours."

"Then secure the Citadel Vakarian, every second counts," Hackett's voice stated. "The Crucible is ready to link with the Citadel."

"Reaper forces are closing in on our position Garrus," Miranda stated as Kaiden placed the unconscious Shepard down. "Send a strike team to the Citadel while we stay back and hold the Conduit from enemy forces."

Garrus looked down at Shepard, wishing he was here to take command, but as he looked up at the beam of light he threw his desires away, he knew what he had to do.

"Tali, bring one of the Geth Primes. Liara and Kaiden you're with us as well," Garrus ordered, turning his com channel back to all frequencies. "All friendly forces, we hold this line and keep Shepard alive. It's time to end this war."

"Why not just take him up in the Conduit with you?" James asked as he scanned the horizon as Admiral Anderson and Major Kotes were making their way to the Conduit, along with the STG and Eclipse sniper teams. To the left and Right flanks respectively.

"We have no idea how the Conduit would affect him in this condition," Miranda said coolly. "Not to mention we don't know if there are any Reapers waiting up there for us."

"Hold the line," Garrus stated. "One last time."

As Garrus ran into the Conduit his eyes were blinded, his gut feeling a massive twist as he feel into the sky, his eyes staying closed until he felt himself come to a stop, his body rolling across blood covered floors.

He could hear 3 more thumps as Tali, Liara, Kaiden and the Geth Prime hit the floor.

Garrus's vision was blurred but as he slowly stood he could see masses of bodies piled along the walls of the corridors.

"Everyone okay?" Garrus asked.

"Affirmative," the Geth responded.

"I prefer the Mako for conduit rides," Liara sighed as she stood up.

Tali shook her head. "No worse than regular sickness."

"I hope we can find a different way down," Kaiden replied as he rolled his neck in a circle.

"Where are we?" Garrus asked.

"Geth have no record of this area of the Citadel," the Prime reported.

"Keep sharp," Garrus stated as they slowly made their way forward.

Garrus and his team moved fast, the red lit corridor slowly brightening as they made their way to a control panel, the Illusive man standing over it.

Garrus heard Liara's pistol fire, the round tearing off the Illusive Man's head before he could say a word. Garrus looking at Liara, surprise plastered across his face.

"I made a promise to him on Thessia," Liara stated coolly.

"Tali open the Citadel Arms, it's time to end this," Garrus stated.

As Garrus waited the minutes seemed passed like hours before Tali finally sighed in relief.

"Citadel arms are opening," She sighed. "Waiting for the Crucible to dock."

As the group slowly looked at the window, watching the Citadel arms expand, the silence between the group was finally broken when Garrus started to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Liara asked, her voice slightly unnerved by Garrus's unusual laughter.

Garrus just shook his head. "I'm sorry but I can't help but remember when Shepard had Joker call the Council so he could hang up on them barely saying a damn word. Or how he allied all the gangs of Omega together and they ended up following Archangel, the man who they all tried to kill, to the Conduit."

Liara's frown slowly turned to a smile, even beneath her mask Tali seemed to as well.

For a few small moments, for no reason at all, Garrus, Tali, Liara, and Kaiden just laughed small memories being shared between each other…memories that were unforgettable.

As Garrus heard Hackett over the com, however, that laughter died.

"Vakarian…nothing is happening. The Crucible isn't firing. There must be something wrong on your end," Hackett's voice stated.

All eyes looked to Tali for a moment, their feet lurching as the floor below them slowly rose up, a blinding light opening above them.

Garrus could not say how long it took, but as he opened his eyes he could see a glowing figure like a human child standing on the floor.

"Welcome," the disembodied voice stated.

"What the hell is that?" Tali stated.

"This construct is a hologram…it is a Reaper Intelligence," the Geth Prime stated.

Garrus felt an itch in his trigger finger but he stayed himself for the moment.

"Who are you?" Garrus asked bluntly.

"I am the Catalyst," the Starchild replied. "I am the solution to organic's problem."

"You're a Reaper or the first Reaper?" Liara demanded.

"I am the one who created the Reapers," The Starchild replied. "They are mine."

"Well that just figures, the weapon we depend on to kill Reapers depends on a Reaper," Kaiden sarcastically as he folded his arms. "Why can't anything ever work out for us, just once."

Garrus looked down at the hologram. "It reminds me of those lights the Geth Heretics used to worship when we found them on Feros."

"Why are you here?" the child demanded, ignoring the conversation.

"To kill the Reapers," Garrus replied coldly. "Are you going to help us or not?"

"Why would you kill the Reapers?" the Catalyst asked turning and walking down a pristine metal walkway. "They provide order to organic evolution. They ensure the universe is protected from the great danger."

"The great danger?" Garrus asked. "What might that be?"

"Synthetics," The catalyst turned to face Garrus. "Without Reapers to preserve and ascend organic life, they will eventually create synthetics that will kill all organics."

Garrus looked at the Geth Prime standing behind them, and then looked back at the ghostly child.

"So you kill us to protect us?" Garrus clarified. "Sovereign said we wouldn't be able to comprehend the reason the Reapers kill us, but I never thought it would be because they follow a logical fallacy."

"Kill is a simple term, ascension is beyond comprehension. It is not something a human mind will comprehend, it is as alien to you as it would be to be part of the Geth consensus," the Starchild replied. "And if you were not ascended _all_ organic life would be killed, not just the most advanced civilizations. Even nonspace faring species would be killed."

Garrus looked at Tali. His trigger finger was becoming unfathomably itchy.

"There's an old human saying that applies here Garrus: ," Kaiden stated calmly. "We have a Geth Prime standing right next to us and it helped us get to this point."

"This construct appears very old," the Geth Prime stated. "It is possible it has succumbed to Rampancy. Analogous of the Geth heretics who followed Sovereign."

"You have two choices before you," The starchild continued. "You can use the Crucible to control the Reapers yourself or you can destroy us, however, either option will lead to the destruction of all the relays in this galaxy."

Garrus looked at Tali. "No."

"No, we're not playing by a Reaper's rules," Garrus stated. "We're not going to accept any option that a Reaper AI says we must choose."

"This Platform has detected energy signals of a control panel near our entrance," the Geth Prime stated. "The prudent course of action is to investigate."

"Do it," Garrus stated.

"You cannot leave now," the Starchild called out. "If you do you will doom all life to death when the synthetics rise up against you."

Garrus took Liara's pistol and began shooting the hologram as he walked back to the panel which the Geth Prime had removed to reveal a wall of circuitry.

"Tali give me some good news," Garrus stated as he tossed the pistol away.

"Console activated," Tali stated.

Garrus watched as a console popped out of the floor next to them, the alien characters streaming across the screen. "It's Prothean."

Liara quickly took control Garrus and Kaiden simply stepping back and watching the team work.

The ghostly child was turning red. "No, you cannot do this!"

A burst of electricity flew from the circuitry, almost hitting Tali if not for the Geth Prime which reached out and absorbed the blow.

"Creator Tali, this construct believes its Reaper upgrades can help in deleting Rampant AI programs within this console," the Geth stated calmly as smoke rose from its ligaments. "We require your omni tool to correctly interface into the controls."

"Do it," Tali ordered, her forearm lighting up as the Geth platform shuffled to the floor.

"You struggle against inevitability," the hologram stated.

"I have something here…another AI presence on the terminal," Liara stated her hands a blur.

Garrus was no computer expert, but as he watched the hologram of the Starchild he could tell it seemed to be getting angry, its hologram beginning to disappear.

"Geth Prime uploaded into circuitry, erasing subroutines," Tali stated as she continued to switch the wires around at blinding speed.

"No," the starchild yelled. "You'll do-"

The hologram disappeared, the glowing white figure gone.

"Uh what did you do?" Kaiden's voice asked.

"We deleted the AI," Tali explained, her omni tool glowing again as she opened the Geth Prime's control plan and began fiddling with it, the lights reemerging from the Geth Prime as she did.

"AI program subroutines terminated," The Geth Prime stated. "Excellent work Creator Tali and T'Soni Doctor."

"You have done it," a familiar voice stated, a new green figure appearing where the Starchild had stood. Garrus recognized the voice….

"Vigil?" Garrus questioned.

"I am not Vigil," The same voice replied. "Not as Vigil was. I am an AI based off Vigil's core programming and functioning."

Garrus looked to Tali for translation.

"Another AI?" He asked.

"I have been monitoring events on the Citadel ever since the Prothean team installed me on the station's mainframe. I am the solution that kept the Keepers in check," the Prothean hologram explained.

"Can someone just explain what is going on?" Kaiden asked.

"You have just deleted the master of all the Reapers," the Prothean AI stated. "A program that went rampant many eons ago and turned on its original masters. During the past 50,000 years I have been doing everything possible to keep it in check from beginning another cycle."

"You prevented the cycle starting again?" Kaiden asked. "I thought Sovereign would start the cycle."

"The Reaper Sovereign was a backup plan when the Catalyst could no longer control the station's functions due to my interference. The Keepers were the maintainers of the Catalysts many functions, my existence coupled with the Keeper modifications of the Prothean science team prevented the Catalyst from gaining control of the Citadel's relay functions as well as taking control of the relay network itself. It, however, was able to prevent me from directly contacting Citadel authorities and warn them of the Reapers in the first place. I have not been able to assume full functionality until now," Vigil replied. "The Prothean team was separated by all communication from the Prothean Empire from the beginning of the war, though we never knew about the Crucible's existence I was able to modify our plans to incorporate it into the next cycle. Where the Catalyst would have you destroy all the Mass Relays to defeat the Reapers and destroy galactic civilization, I have found a way to prevent this."

"What's the catch?" Garrus asked.

"No catch," Vigil replied. "Dr. T'soni was able to protect my programming while the Geth and Tali deleted the Catalyst. With the Crucible attached I will be able to release an energy pulse which will target the advanced Mass Effect drive cores that the Reapers possess and create a dark energy singularity within that will expand until the mass effect cores explode from internal pressure."

"What of the drive cores on our ships?" Garrus asked.

"Perfectly safe, Prothean data from study on a Reaper corpse during the last cycle remains intact, we will be able to target only their hyper advanced drive cores," Vigil replied.

"Do it," Garrus ordered.

"Gladly," Vigil replied.

Shepard felt took a deep breath, his eyes opening to see Miranda's face over his…her eyes red and hot from tears, his own mouth was dry and his heart was hammering in his chest.

He felt a smile cross his face.

"You did it Shepard," Miranda whispered. "We did it."

The End

For those of you wondering how this ending would work in the game, my thinking is that the end should function a lot like the Suicide mission in ME2. There are several key decisions that matter for this to work in game mechanics.

**Big Parts:**

**The Perimeter Formation**: This part is the beginning for determining the strength of the Charge on the Conduit. By having as many allies as possible you prevent key deaths. Preventing the death of Grunt by having STG+Rachni allies puts you in better position for the Charge on the Conduit itself. It works the same for the Geth and Quarians, by having them allied you keep max possible value for the Conduit charge

**The Conduit Charge**: The charge on the conduit would determine your losses. In this "Perfect" ending Shepard has as many allies as possible charging the Conduit as possible meaning those charging take few casualties. This is where your FLEET comes in. If your fleet is too weak Harby isn't killed and you lose EVERYTHING. You don't reach the conduit and Reapers go on screwing everyone. If you saved the Destiny Ascension you can kill Harbinger provided your Fleet EMS is high enough to start with. Otherwise, if you let it be destroyed you can only "knock out" or heavily damage Harbinger PROVIDED you kept the Collector Base (background being humanity's fleets are improved from the collector tech found)

Harby being badly damaged means that you get to the conduit, but Reaper forces that attack your forces while they "hold the line" have a much greater "strength/coordination" due to Harby being close by. This means you can still get a "perfect" ending but the soldiers you left to hold the line have to have taken few to zero casualties on the charge itself

**Holding the Line**: This ultimately determines whether your Shepard lives or dies. If you have a high enough "score" Shep lives, if not the position is overrun and he is killed

**The Catalyst**: To be honest I despise the Catalyst with a passion I decided to go with it and do what I could to redeem it. Personally I think Legion would be better if he took the spot of the "Geth Prime" in this, maybe sacrificing himself to help destroy the Catalyst? I liked how he sacrificed himself, but I think it would be better if he did it in this scenario.

Anyway, the key differences in this are based on who you have alive. If you have Tali+Geth+Liara (all of whom can die in the Conduit charge) you can get the best ending possible

Depending on who dies you may not get the perfect ending, others being

All ship drives destroyed (if Liara is dead)

All synthetics killed (If Geth Prime dead)

Citadel blows up (Tali dead)

If you any of these two people COMBINED, you lose the Mass Relays, if you don't have any you have to accept the Catalyst's terrible logic, and if all three are lost you lose the Citadel+Mass Relays along with the Inferred holocaust that entails

Hope you enjoyed the read, just some statistics for fun:

2 Days to plan the storyline

8 Hours to write (this is a first draft, so I apologize for any problems)

If I get enough feedback I'll consider an epilogue, but I mainly did this for me. I have had these ideas swimming in my head for days I wanted to get them out on paper so I can work on other stories I have written.

Hope you enjoyed the story, to me ME3's ending could've been SO MUCH MORE, so I'll pretend it was


End file.
